Medical workers as special guests

His hotel was almost fully-booked when he answered the city's call for accommodation for medical workers.

"It's all about helping people who are working at the front line," Ai says. "Most of my guests at the time were locals who worked outside the city. They stayed here while visiting their families over the Spring Festival holiday."

Ai personally explained the situation to his guests and helped them to check out.

"They were very understanding and supportive and emptied the rooms quickly," Ai says.

However, half of his employees quit their jobs upon hearing about Ai's decision.

"I could understand their concern, but I could not go back on my decision," Ai says.

In the space of two days, Ai canceled all bookings and cleared out all of the 86 rooms in his hotel. He then worked with his remaining staff members to prepare the rooms for the medical workers. He took in more than 30 on Feb 1, and then more than 100 the next day. Ai has asked his employees to offer 24-hour service as medical workers come and go at all hours of the day or night. "They are working shifts, so we have to follow up with our service," Ai says.

Li Wei, the hotel's reception manager, has been holding down the fort for over a month. He went through a gallbladder operation himself about two months ago.

"The boss has gone into the battle, so we have nothing to be afraid of," Li says.

Li works with the other receptionist Yang Weiwei to take medical workers' temperatures and keeps track of their information as they go in and out of the hotel. Another employee, Liu Shichen, takes care of cleaning the rooms and stairways in the five-story hotel. His daily step-count on WeChat is usually above 20,000.